California Wellness Foundation Awards Nearly $8 Million in Grants

The California Wellness Foundation in Woodland Hills has announced fourth-quarter grants totaling nearly $8 million to nonprofits working to address health issues affecting Californians.

The foundation awarded special project grants totaling $2 million to address healthcare access issues for those who remain uninsured despite passage of the Affordable Care Act. Recipients include the Alameda County Public Health Department, which was awarded $150,000 in support of its Building Blocks for Health Equity initiative; the Fresno Rescue Mission, which will receive $150,000 to provide post-hospital medical care for homeless individuals; the Insure the Uninsured Project, which was awarded $200,000 over eighteen months to develop strategies to improve health care and coverage for those who remain uninsured in Southern California; and the Tides Center, which will receive $100,000 in support of the California Health Report as well as its coverage and analysis of ACA implementation in the state.

Other fourth-quarter grants were awarded in support of diversity in the health profession, environmental health, healthy aging, mental health, teenage pregnancy prevention, violence prevention, women's health, and work and health. Recipients include the Praxis Project, which was awarded $95,000 for its efforts to expand the number of advocates in the state effectively engaged in local and regional policy approaches to increasing diversity in the health profession; Black Women for Wellness, which will receive $75,000 in support of environmental health education and leadership training efforts with respect to the health risks of exposure to toxic chemicals in the African-American community; Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, which was awarded $80,000 in operating support for its senior food program; and the California Coalition for Youth, which will receive $75,000 in operating support for its California Youth Crisis Line, which provides counseling and referral services for, and public policy efforts on behalf of, homeless, runaway, and other at-risk youth in the state.

For a complete list of the foundation's fourth-quarter grants, visit the California Wellness Foundation Web site.